Cartridges



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

M. F. B. RICE. y

MACHINE TOR LOADING AND NBLOADING GARTRIDGES. No. 331,159. Patented Nov.24, 1885.

NNN

NN N

(No Model.) s sheets-sheen a.A

M. F. B. RICE.

MACHINE POR LOADING AND RBLOADING CARTRIDGES.. No. 331,159. PatentedNov. 24. 1885.

un h

llihlirlinllln. Illmlll WITNBSSDS: INVD DQR.

` J ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARTIN F. B. RICE, .OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

MACHINE FOR LOADINGAND RELOADINGDARTRICDGVES.

` o SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o.' 331,159, datedNovember 24, 1885.

Application filed September 25, 1885. Serial No. 178,171. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, M. F. B. RICE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have inventedcertain new and useful VImprovements in Machines for Loading andReloading Cartridges; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to a machine which embodies in compact form and asan entirety all the devices necessary to load and reload cartridges. Ithas been customary to provide a number of separate implements fore'ecting the work which is accomplished in my single machine, whichsubjected the usertoa great deal of inconvenience in handling, anddanger of losing them. Especially was the latter the case when theseveral separate implements were carried away from home on gunningexpeditions. A

Theinvention has forits object the construction of a compact machinewhich shall embody all the devices required to load new cartridges or toreload cartridges which have been used, and also to provide a machineby' which metallic or paper cartridges may be loaded with'facility anddispatch.

The invention consists in the constructions v hereinafter described, andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification,Figure lrepresents a front View or elevation of the machine; Fig. 2, avertical section thereof; Fig. 3, a side view,

- in elevation, looking in the direction of the arm in Fig. 1; Fig. 4, aperspective view of the cradle and crimpers; Fig. 5, a longitudinalsection of the crimpers; Fig. 6, a plan on 'line waz, Fig. 1; Fig. 7, anenlarged side view of a portion of the cylinder constituting thewad-starter and its graduated gages; Fig. 8, avertical section of thecanister; Fig. 9, a

plan on the line y y in Fig. 1; Fig. 10, acrosssection of one of the crim pers on line zz; Fig. 5; and Fig. 11 represents a paper cartridgeafter having been crimped.

are secured by any suitable means. As an example, I have shownthumb-screws b b. Thel part a is provided with a graduated scale, asshown in Fig. 1, the purpose of which will hereinafter appear. Withinsaid part a is formed a chamber, through which a ramrod, D, passes, andis encircled by a coiled spring, c, resting upon the bottom d of thechamber and bearing upon a collar, e, formed upon the rod D,the upperend of the chamber being closed by a screw-plug, f. The central portionof the column formsawad-starting cham-v ber, E, provided with conicalwalls, as shown in Fig. 2, and a series of graduated wad gages or gates,1 2 3 4., a smaller or greater number of which may be applied, ascircumstances re- 7o quire. The gages are secured upon a pin or stud, 5,and are adapted to be swung into or out of position, as they are desiredto be used in supplying wads of different diameters for either metallicor paper cartridges. 7 5

Each gage or gate is provided with a projection, 6, which forms aconvenient handle for moving it from one position to another, and restsupon a step or seat formed in the column A for supporting the gage whilea wad is being passed through it. The lower part of the column is cutaway on one side, and forms a chamber to hold the cartridges while theyare being provided with wads, and to accommodate cartridges of differentlengths a safetyblock, g, is supportedv in the bottom-of the chamber,and is adjustable therein, 'as shown. The cartridge-chamber is providedwith a rabbet at h to receive the flange of the cartridge. From thecolumn projects a bracket, fi, which -go is provided with a thumb-screw,j, for secur@ ing the machine to a suitable table. At the upper end ofthe column is secured a horizontal bracket or arm, F, which supports thecovered charging-canister G, formed in two parts or chambers separatedby a partition, la, and each provided with a suitable cut-oft', lm, thehandles of which project through the walls of, 'the canister, andseparate discharging-tubes, as shown in Fig. 8. To the under side of thearm F is secured a swinging cut-off plate, H, pivoted at n, and to whichis attached the-upper section of two telescopic chargers, I. The lowersection of each rests upon the tables B O, respectively, the sectionsbeing held apart by spiral springs 0 o, which bear upon anges formed oneach of the sections.

The capacity of the chargers l I is varied vIoo4 to suit di`erentsizedcartridges or different loads of the same-sized cartridges by adjustingthe tables B Cin accordance with the graduated scale indicated on thepart a of the column A, the sections of the charger being separated bythe springs o o. The tables are provided with apertures p q, and uponthe under side of the tables, around the apertures, are formedprojections r s, over which the open end of the cartridge is passedpreparatory to charging it with powder or shot. The degree of movementof the swinging plate H is limited by a stop, t, xed upon the arm F, andprevents it being'moved in either direction to such an extent as tocause the chargers to leave their respective tables and lose theircontents.

To decap and recap the cartridges, I attach to one side of the column anarm, K, having two recesses, u c, formed in it. The recesses u u areshown provided with grooves a a to receive the flange of the cartridgeand hold it in position while the old or exploded cap is being removedand a new one put in its place. The groove in the recess o may, however,be omitted, as the flange of the cartridge may rest upon the uppersurface of the arm K around the recess, and thus form an eiectivebearing for it while a new cap is being placed in the cartridge. An armor lever, L, is pivotally secured at b' to the arm K, and is providedwith adjustable points or projections c d', the former for penetratingthe old cap and removing it from the cartridge while said cartridge isheld in the recess c by the left hand of the operator and wrenched tothe right at its open end, while the lever L is held rmly by the righthand, thus eii'ectually displacing the exploded cap. The latterprojection, c', is used for embedding a new cap in the cavity formed inthe cartridge for its re ception.

To provide for cutting ofc' paper cartridges to reduce them to anydesired length, there is formed in the arm K a cylindrical chamber, lw,into which projects a plug, d', thus forming an annulus the outerdiameter of which is about equal to the diameter of the cartridge to becut. Upon the arm Lis formed a curved knife-blade, e', for making anincision around the cartridge, and a blade, f projects forward at rightangles to the first-named blade for making a longitudinal incision inthe end of the cartridge. After both incisions have been made thecartridge is turned on its axis by the right hand of the operator untilit has made a complete revolution, when the severed end is removed.

A crimper for cartridges is made by a cradle or trough, M, projectingrearward and at right angles to the arm K, and which is provided with acylinder, g', through which the cartridge passes and a revolving head orcrimper, h', supported in a bracket, i', and rotated by means of acrank, j', for turning under the end of the cartridge. The cartridge isheld against rotation and up to the revolving crimping block or head bya lever, k', which is provided with a wheel, l', which bears against theflanged end of the cartridge and revolves on its shaft m as thecartridge is moved forward toward the crimper. This crimper will notserve for all classes of loads of cartridges, as it is intended only tocrimp paper cartridges which have been loaded up to their maximumcapacity, allowing only Eoom enough to turn or crimp the extreme end ofthe cartridge. It is, however, often desirable to put a small charge inthe cartridge, and to avoid the destruction of the same by cutting itdown, and the objection to using a cartridge of less length than thechamber formed in the breech of the gun, I provide a crimper, N, whichis pivotally secured to the cradle at n', and adapted to be swung out ofthe cradle when the circular crimper is to be used, as shown in dottedlines in Fig. 9, and into the cradle, as shown in full lines, when usingcartridges of the usual length which have been provided with smallcharges.

The crimper consists of a block having a cylindrical chamber formedtherein, the inner end .of which is provided with a series of taperinglongitudinal grooves, o', and corresponding projections, p', anda'central cylindrical projection, g. ing forced into the crimper N, llsthe grooves o', and is formed into a series of longitudinal ribs orprojections corresponding with the number of grooves o', and thus crimpsthe end and securely holds the load without destroying the end of thecartridge or reducing its length, as the force of the charge in passingout of the cartridge restores the crimped end to its normal condition,when it may be used again for any sized load desirable. The

The cartridge, upon beclosed end of the crimper rests againstashoulder,q, formed in the cradle M, which supports it when the cartridge is beingforced into the chamber.

The several parts of the machine being coul' structed substantially asdescribed, the operation is as follows: The separate compartments of thecanister G are filled with powder and shot, respectively, the charges Igraduated to receive the sized load that is desired to be used byadjusting the tables B C, which are arranged in different planes, one ofthe chargers is put in communication with the com-l partment of thecanister containing the powder, the cutoffs Z m are then opened, and

chargers I, the other one is being filled with shot from the canister,the powder being cut off by the plate H. The cartridge is then re- IIOmoved to the chamber formed in the lower l bination of a canister havingseparate compart of the column A, and supplied with a Wad, which isselected to suit the necessities arising from the use of metallic orpaper cartridges, the former requiring Wads of greater diameter than thelatter. The size of the wad having been determined upon, one ofthe gagesor gates, 1, 2, 3, or 4, corresponding with the size of the wad, is putinto position and the smaller ones swung out of line with the Wad, whenthe wad is driven down into the cartridge by the ramlner. The cartridgeis then removed and placed under the aperture in the other table, whenthe cut-oi` plate is moved to put the charger containing shot incommunication with the cartridge while the, empty powder-charger isbeing refilled from the canister. The shot having been discharged intothe cartridge, it is again removed to the wad-chamber and provided withanother wad. It is then removed to the cutter, (if it is desired ornecessary to reduce t-he length of the cartridge,) when the end isremoved. The cartridge is t-hen put in the circular crimper and its endturned under or in the crimper, which compresses the end of thecartridge without reducing its length, as may be desired.

When old cartridges are to be reloaded, the operator takes a cartridgein his left hand and inserts the ange in the groove a of the recess u iuthe arm K, and with his right hand forces the point b into the explodedcap, when the cap is wrenched to the right and the cap extracted. Thecartridge is then provided with a new cap and placed in the recess o,where the cap is seated by thelever L and the point c', thebearing-surface of which is concave, to prevent exploding the cap Whileforcing it home. The cartridge having been recapped, the operation ofreloading is the same as llereinbefore described for loading.

It will be observed from the foregoing description that the cartridgenever leaves the left hand of the operator from the time it is placedunder the powder-charger in new cartridges, or under the decaper in oldones,.un til the work of loading or reloading is completed, and that theseveral steps ofthe operation are performed consecutively andcontinuously. It will also be observed that a single motion of thecut-oi plate H provides for filling one of the chargers I While theother is being discharged, thus expediting the work, as there .is notime lost in waiting for either charger to be filled.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In acartridge-loading machine, the combination of a canister having separatecompartments and discharge-passages, a swinging cut-off plate adapted tocontrol both of said passages alternately and carrying two variablechargers, and the tables upon which the chargers rest arranged ondifferent horizontal planes, substantially as described.

2. In a cartridge 'loading machine, the compartments, anddischarge-pipes supported on a bracket, a swinging cutoff plate arrangedbelow the canister and secured to the bracket by a pivot, two chargershaving ,their upper portions attached to t-he swinging plate, and tablesto support thehchargers, said chargers being arranged upon the swingingplate, and apertures arraugedin the tables in such relation to eachother ,that one charger is filling while the other is discharging,substantially as described.

3. In a cartridge-loading machine, a Wadchamber formed in the column ofthe structure and provided with a swinging tapering gage at its bottom,substantially as described.

4. In a cartridge-loading machine, awadchamber providedl with a seriesof tapering graduated gages arranged horizontally one above the otherand removably secured to the discharge end thereof, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a cartridge-loading machine, a wadchamber formed in the columnthereof and provided with two or more tapering gages re# movablyattached thereto, in combination with seats or supports for said gagesformed in the wall of the column, substantially as described.

6. In a cartridge-reloading machine, an arm projecting from thesupporting column and havinga horizontal annular chamber formed thereinto receive the open end of the cartridge, and vertical recesses toreceive and. support the closed or flanged end, in combination with alever having a blade formed thereon in the plane of the lever and ablade projecting laterally therefrom and carrying points fordecappingand recapping a cartridge, substantially as described. y

7. In a cartridge-loading machine, a cradle provided with a revolvingcrimper at one end aud a crimper for contracting a cartridge, hinged toone side of the cradle-'and adapted to be thrown into or out of thecradle, substantially as described.

8. In acartridge loading machine,a crimper consisting of a chamberhaving a series of tapering longitudinal grooves, and lprojections-formed in one end thereof, and a central projecting core or studintegral therewith, substantially as described.

9. In a cartridge-loading machine, a cradle having a crimper hingedthereto and provided with a chamber containing a series of taperinglongitudinal grooves and proj eetions, and a central core in one end,formed integral therewith, in combination with a lever carry- IIO ing arevolving wheel for forcing a cartridge l into the crimper,substantially as described. In testimony whereof I affix my signature inpresence of two witnesses.

MARTIN F. B. RICE.

Witnesses:

H. A. HALL, J, A. PRICE.

It is hereby certiied that in Letters Patent No. 331,159, grantedNovember 24,1885, y

upon the application of Martin F. B. Rice, of Washington, District ofColumbia, for

an improvement in Machines for Loading and Re-Loading Cartridges, anerror appears in the printed specification requiring correction asfollows: In line 34, page 3,

the Word cap should be stricken out and the word cartridge insertedinstead; and:

that the. Letters Patent should be read with this correction thereinthat the same may conform to the record of the case in the PatentOffice.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 8th day of December, A. D. 1885.

[SEAL] H. L. MULDROW,

Acting Secretary of the Interior. Countersigned z M. V. MONTGOMERY,

Commissioner of Patents.

